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12.27.2008

I couldn't embed the official video for this song because embedding was disabled.

When it comes to training, I've missed a lot of beats lately. I haven't been putting in many hours and it's starting to show. Easy workouts aren't so easy anymore. But I did get out for a 6.25 mile run in a winter wonderland the other day...

After the first of the year, I'll get back into it a bit more. I've still got about 10 months to train for the Great Floridian so there's plenty of time. Plus I should get in some good training next week....maybe even a few outdoor miles on my bike.

12.20.2008

12.19.2008

My snowshoes arrived yesterday, and so did the snow. We got 10 inches last night....or something like that. I don't know. It doesn't matter. It was a lot, and it's starting to look a lot like last year. It's not even officially winter yet and people already have to dig out their mailboxes.I figured today would be a good day to go for my first snowshoe run.

I went across the street at lunch and ran through the golf course. I learned quickly that ten inches of light, fluffy snow is not the best for snowshoe running. Even with snowshoes, I was sinking 6-12 inches. Each step was hard work. My heartrate was instantly up to 95% of max and my legs hurt and I couldn't breathe. And that was the first tenth of a mile. It got worse from there, and I had to walk quite a bit to get my heartrate down. Plus they fling a lot of snow in the air and I was soaked. My feet were cold because my snowshoe shoes haven't arrived yet and I don't have gaiters.

All total I only did 1.25 miles in about 20 minutes. I've never felt so weak and out of shape. But I think I might head out again tomorrow.

12.06.2008

Today was the first of 4 indoor time trials at SBR Coaching. I did them last year and they were good training so I signed up for the series again this year. I didn't really have any expectations for this one since I've been sick all week and haven't worked out in 6 days, but I thought it would be good to get an idea where I'm at right now so I can gauge how my winter training is going.

Based on my past TTs, I figured I could average 275-320 watts for a 10K. Last year I averaged 277 for the first TT and averaged about 310 for the 4th TT. 275, even with a cold, seemed reasonable. If I came in a little lower, no big deal, but last year was 277 and I've ridden about 1,000 miles more this year and have done a lot more TTs.

I averaged 248 watts. And you can see by the chart, it was a steady decline the whole time.

My HR was really high and I couldn't breathe. I figured part of that was my cold, and the other part is me being used to riding outdoors in the cold weather instead of indoors sweating like a pig. So I probably overheated a bit...

But 248?

It doesn't seem right. Sure, I've had a cold and haven't ridden in a week, but I just averaged 233 watts for 56 miles a few weeks ago. And I've been putting in some killer fixie rides. You'll lose fitness with a week off, but not that much. Plus my legs were well rested so I should've had some strength, but I felt weak.

When I got home and was wheeling my bike upstairs, I heard a rubbing sound coming from the rear wheel. I checked it out, and my rear brake was rubbing. When I changed my tired and put my rear wheel back on, I didn't get it on straight so it had a little wobble and was rubbing against the rear brake. Smooth.

I don't know how many watts that cost me, but I'm hoping about 30.

Not only do I feel like an idiot, but I'm frustrated because I wanted this ride to give me a good idea where I'm at right now fitness-wise. These races are just training days for me so I don't really care how I do in the standings, but I hate not getting accurate wattage info.

I did get in a good workout, though, so that's something. I'm hoping it doesn't affect my cold since I'm starting to get over it and expect I'll be 100% in a few days (it's lingering...it's one of those).

12.01.2008

I'm not sure why, but I did it. I signed up for the Great Floridian Triathlon next October. When I told Dennis, I expected him to tell me I was stupid or a slow learner or something like that. What I got was something a little different.

"Well, that sounds gay."

"Gay?"

"Yeah. So instead of saying you're an Ironman when you cross the finish line do they say 'Congratulations, you're a Grand Floridian."

"No, it's Great Floridian."

"Oh....still sounds a little gay."

Great. So now when I train for this I'll have that in the back of my mind. Instead of 10 months of hard work so I can call myself an Ironman, I get 10 months of hard work so I can claim to be a Great Gay Grand Floridian....not that there's anything wrong with that.